Best of BS Opinion: Strategy for GST reforms, unambiguous commitment, more

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India, which reviewed the policy this week, decided to leave the policy repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent. Our lead editorial in this context notes, although the inflation outlook has become more favourable, the MPC is not willing to jump the gun simply because other large central banks have reduced policy rates and have indicated further easing. Read here

While switching over to one tax rate, as recommended by Vijay Kelkar, may not be politically feasible, there is no reason why the GST Council cannot deliberate on reducing the complexity by reducing the number of rates to two without compromising on revenue or equity, writes economist M. Govinda Rao.  Read here